The suspect, Afolabi Akande (49), who specialised in
Credit Card Fraud (CCF) in Saudi Arabia, returned to Nigeria to start
befriending cyclists, only to later drug them in order to steal their motorcycles.
The arrest of Akande in Ogun State was led by a
Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Philips Rieninwa of IRT.
The suspect, who has been singing like a bird since
his arrest, disclosed that he used to lure his victims to drinking joints, where
he would buys drinks for them and then laced the drinks with drugs. The drug
makes them to fall asleep, making it easier for him to disappear with their
motorcycles.
He said: “In 2011, I returned to Nigeria. I had
no job. Last year December, I met Mukalia Hamza at Bariga area. He told me
that he would give me N5000. He said that I should use the money to look for any
man; I should offer him a drink. Hamza said that when we start drinking, we
would become friends. He said that I should ask the cyclist to tell me how to
operate a motorcycle and how the business works. When the cyclist starts
teaching how to operate it, I should just rode off. I succeeded in stealing two motorcycles using
this method. I took the motorcycles to Hamza.
“He paid me N72, 000 for the first one, which I
stole from it owner at Surulere. I stole the second motorcycle at Omole area of
Lagos and Hamza paid me N80, 000. When this method stopped working,
I started drugging their drinks. Once they sleep off, I will calmly ride the
motorcycles away. I was arrested because I erroneously gave my phone number
to one of my victims. He gave the phone number to police, who tracked and
arrested me.”
Investigations have revealed that Akande operates in
different parts of Lagos State. After making away with these motorcycles, he
hands they over to Hamza, pays him. Hamza, who is presently on the run, moves
the motorcycles to the northern part of the country, where he sells them off.
A police source explained: “Akande ran into trouble after some motorcycle operators in Lagos State, wrote a petition to the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, informing him about a serial motorcycle thief. The operators described the suspect as evasive. The IGP ordered IRT, headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abba Kyari, to ensure that the thief or thieves were tracked down and brought to book.”
A crack team of operatives, led by Rieninwa, trailed
the suspect to his abode at the Arepo axis of Ogun State, through information. During interrogations, Akande admitted to the
crime and later led policemen to recover two of the stolen motorcycles.
Akande claimed to have gone into the crime because
he couldn’t get a decent job. He further said that his inability to get a
job, made his wife of 15 years, to abandon him. The woman, when she was walking
out of the marriage, left with all his kids.
Akande said: “I came to Lagos from Ondo State in 1989. I secured a job at Panaphina office at Apapa, where I worked until 1995 before I traveled to Saudi Arabia. It was at Saudi Arabia that I started dealing in Credit Card Fraud. I usually buy stolen credit cards from some Somalians and Lebanese living in that country. I would use them in buying goods from shops in Saudi Arabia. I sell the goods at the black market in Saudi Arabia. I send the proceeds to my wife in Nigeria. I did it for a long time. When I was about being caught, I fled to Nigeria and then I travelled to Dubai, where I also met some Indians and Somalians also dealing on credit cards fraud. I started shopping with fake credit cards. I returned to Nigeria. There was no job. Then I met Hamza.”
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